The Way Back
by Fox Mcloud SNR
Summary: The sequel to A Better World?
1. Prologue

**The Way Back**

**This isn't the first chapter, I just wanted to make a summary so people would know about what to expect, I won't be starting the story proper for a while.**

_For Po it's been two years since he saw Tigress, during that time he has desperately attempting to make a new stone using more...humane methods and trying to repair his reputation which is in tatters thanks to his evil counterpart. For Tigress only two weeks have past, she refuses to open up to anyone about Po's death and Shifu fears she may still be on the path to destruction._

_Will Po and Tigress be reunited? Or is it too late for them?_


	2. Chapter 1

**The Way Back**

**Chapter 1- Life Among Them**

An explosion was heard throughout the palace, it was followed by someone loudly cursing.

"DAMN IT!" roared Po while running around in a panic with his hand on fire, he put it out quickly using a nearby bucket full of water which he had put there for just such an occasion.

Po then began to get rid of the remaining flames in his room, when he had finished he sat back down with a sigh.

The weary panda opened a draw and pulled a quill out, he dabbed it in some nearby ink.

He grabbed his notepad on the desk which had miraculously survived and began to write, _"Another failure, all I have to show for that hard two hours work is a strong smell of smoke and some burns, oh well I guess that's what I get for mixing sulfur and saltpeter together over charcoal"_.

Po paused and dabbed more ink onto the quill, _"It's been two years to the day since I started writing to you Tigress and I'm not getting any closer, yeah I know it's surprising how much I've learned about alchemy since I've been here, it's taken a while and lot of reading, this must show you how determined I am to get back to you, you know how much I hate reading, well I'd better get back to it, I love you Tigress"_.

Po folded the letter and put it in the box that he had put the other hundreds of letters in, he yawned, stood up and stretched before walking over to the mirror in his room to examine the damage done by his experiment.

He gazed at himself, Po hadn't changed much in those two years, he had bags under his eyes from many late nights and he had less of a gut due to his continued training, due to there being no Master Shifu in this reality Po's training was being continued by Mantis, Monkey and Viper who due to living a lot longer knew a lot more techniques for Po to learn.

Viper had shown him all of the scrolls that she and the others could find about trying to make The Sacred Blood Stone but all of them had been fruitless.

Po remembered the day he met what remained of the Furious Five, it was his second day in the future.

_Po walked up the Thousand Stairs hesitantly, he was nervous about what he would find, after all the Crane from the future had told him that everyone else in the team save Mantis had turned evil._

_He reached the top of the stairs and noticed two rhinos guarding the entrance to the Hall of Heroes, when they saw Po they quickly panicked and saluted._

_Po ignored them, opened the door and made his way into the Hall._

_The Hall didn't look that much different he observed, the Sword of Heroes was missing from it's stand but apart from that none of the other artifacts were missing._

_Po heard a slight movement and then dodged an incoming Shuriken__, when he got up he turned to face his attacker._

_"Viper?" he said confusedly, said snake was staring at him in shock until she suddenly tackled him to the ground._

_"Po! Where have you been, it's been three days since we last saw you, did you manage to catch Crane?"._

_Po noticed that while she was happy to see him she seemed sad at the prospect of him finding Crane, when he remembered the older Crane master and how he'd been treated by these people he became angry._

_"Why would you care Viper? All you've try to do is kill him", Po roughly pushed Viper off of him. _

_Viper landed gracefully, she looked at Po with a frown "But you're the one th-", she gasped in realization._

_"Who are you?" she got into a fighting stance._

_Po sighed, he had wished to avoid meeting any of the five, he just wanted to find a way to get back to Tigress._

_He started to explain what had happened, as he got to the part about Crane's death Viper started to cry._

_"Why are you crying? I thought that you wanted him dead" Po asked softly._

_Viper shook her head "No I was just following The Dragon Warrior's orders, I've loved him for years, I was hoping Crane would eventually come to his senses and we could be together"._

_Po carried on with the story, when he had finished Viper looked at him for a moment before looking shamefully away from him._

_"You must think we're evil" she said sorrowfully._

_Po remained quiet for a second "No I don't think you're evil, but I also don't think that you're completely innocent either, you could've stopped him anytime that you wanted but you literally let him get away with murder for years"._

_Viper started to slither away but Po stopped her, "But it's not too late, as someone great once said, "It doesn't matter what happened in the past, it matters what you choose to be from this moment on"._

_Viper looked up at Po who was smiling warmly at him "And I'm going to help you all"._

_Viper hugged him..as well as a snake could hug a panda, "Thank you Dragon Warrior"._

_Po pulled out of the hug "Don't mention it although you can do one thing for me"._

_"What is it?" she asked._

_Po walked away "Don't call me the Dragon Warrior my name is Po"._

Po snapped out of his day dream when he heard someone frantically open his door, Monkey poked his head round the door, "You okay Po?", Po turned to answer him, "Yeah I'm fine, another failed attempt" he said dejectedly.

"Don't worry Po, you'll get there eventually" Monkey said sympathetically, ever since Po had arrived the five...the three had been doing everything in their power to stay on Po's good side, mostly out of fear but Po suspected that Viper and Monkey were doing it out of guilt, for letting the other Po commit those acts.

Po nodded "Yeah I guess, well it's late so we'd better get some sleep for tomorrow", Monkey nodded and closed Po's door.

**What's that?, two people who love each other stranded on different worlds.**

**Hit it watch?v=cNt7cLq2zh8**


	3. Chapter 2

**The Way Back**

**Chapter 2- The Hearts Desire**

_1 hour after Po's "death"- The Present_

Crane met up with the others to compare notes and to see if they had managed to recover anything.

He showed them the stone he had recently dug up and they gasped in awe of it's otherwordly glow.

"D'ya think that Shifu would want this used to rebuild the palace?" asked Crane hopefully.

Mantis shrugged "I don't know, keep it thought just in case, you never know it might come in handy if we ever need a weapon".

Viper hissed angrily "Would you really feel comfortable about using the weapon that cost Po his life? Because I certainly wouldn't".

Crane put his wing on her which calmed her down instantly, "He's just being pragmatic Viper, it is a powerful weapon and it does have a potential use but that isn't our call it's Shifu's, and I know we're all hurting from Po's death but remember no matter how bad _we _feel Tigress almost certainly feels worse, so we need to give her all the help she needs so she can mourn properly".

They all nodded, "And Mr Ping needs us too" said Monkey.

Crane nodded.

xxxxx

Shifu walked into the noodle shop with a heavy heart, he knew that the next hour talking to Mr Ping would be difficult which is why he had spared Tigress this particular emotional hurdle.

He saw that the restaurant was empty, cutlery and dishes were strewn about the place because had left in a hurry after hearing the palace be destroyed, the door to the restaurant was open at an angle.

Shifu made his way over and pushed it open slightly "Mr Ping...are you here?" he called out softly.

His voice full of concern and apprehension came from upstairs "Is that you Master Shifu? I'm up here hiding like Po told me to do if the village was ever attacked".

Shifu appreciated Po's forward thinking but the thought of his student made him nervous.

Shifu walked up the stairs and went into Po's room, he noticed it was covered in posters of the Furious Five, in particular Tigress, he sighed inwardly and wondered where Tigress was and if she was okay.

Mr Ping was sat on Po's bed nervously fiddling about with the edges of his apron, when he saw Shifu he lowered himself off the bed and made his way towards him.

"Master Shifu the whole village was in a panic, we saw the palace get destroyed, what happened? Is my son alright?", Mr Ping put his wings together in a gesture of hope.

_"I won't tell him who attacked us, I want to spare him as much pain as possible so not telling him his son becomes a vicious killer in the future may be a start", _Shifu took a deep breath and told Mr Ping what had happened without revealing the identity of the person responsible or Po's fate.

When Mr Ping had finished digesting the information he spoke, "So some awful brute from the future using a powerful alcehmical artifact attacked you all in the palace?" Shifu nodded.

"So that explains what happened to the palace, but is my son alright?" he asked desperately.

Shifu looked at him sadly before answering "Mr Ping...I'm sorry but Po gave his life to save Tigress, he was caught in a explosion produced by the artifact".

He saw Mr Ping's expression crumble before his very eyes, Mr Ping fell the floor and started to sob loudly.

Shifu had never felt so low, he had broken a father's heart. _"This is my fault, if I had been stronger then Po wouldn't of had to give his life, now I've lost him and Tigress"_ he thought shamefully.

He placed a paw on Mr Ping's shoulder "I'm sorry Mr Ping".

"I know you don't want to hear this now, but I can take care of all the funeral details if it would ease your pain".

Mr Ping shook his head furiously "No! He was my son, I'll do it, just tell me one thing Shifu".

Shifu nodded "Anything Mr Ping".

"Did Po tell Tigress of his feelings for her before he died?".

Shifu smiled warmly "Yes he did and she returned them".

Mr Ping managed a weak smile "I'm glad, that's all he talked about when he came back from Gongmen, at least he went happy", at the thought of Po's death he started to cry again.

Shifu decided to stay with him for a while for emotional support.

xxxxx

Tigress hit the dummies as hard as she could turning them into dust.

While on her way to the remains of the palace to help her friends she decided to throw herself into training so she could try and ease her pain.

Every time she thought of Po she trained harder so she could only concentrate on the physical pain.

She carried on doing this until there wasn't any training apparatus left, she observed the results of her destruction, huffed irritably and left to go to her room.

When she got to the sleeping quarters she couldn't help but turn around and look at Po's room which was opposite to hers, she felt sadness wash over her and felt a deep loneliness.

Without anything left in the training hall to vent her pain out on she decided to sleep it off, she went to go into her room but stole one more glance at Po's room.

With a sigh she closed her own door and went into Po's room, she could smell his scent all over the room, she closed her eyes and could almost hear him talking to her as if he was standing right beside her.

She opened her eyes hopefully but was bitterly disappointed at the lack of the real thing, she laid on Po's bed and curled up to sleep.

She imagined that she was in Po's warm embrace which made it easier for her to go to sleep rapidly and peacefully.

xxxxx

Shifu walked out of the entrance to the noodle shop, he had waited for Mr Ping to calm down until he had felt comfortable enough to leave him.

He was so deep in thought that he nearly walked straight into Crane.

"What is it Master Crane? Did you find anything?" he said forcefully, Shifu decided to get straight to the point so he could have a chance to be alone.

Crane opened his wing to reveal the stone, "I found this in the rubble, do you think it can be used to raise the palace back up?".

Shifu looked at the stone with disgust, _"How could he even think about using that abhorrent weapon after it took Po away from us?"_.

Crane noticed his displeasure "I'm sorry Master, it was just a thought, I will dispose of it immediately".

Crane began to walk away until he was stopped by Master Shifu grabbing his shoulder.

"No Crane that is a sound idea...it is just that...well I wouldn't feel comfortable with creating something by using a device that has taken away from so many people and that's not including us".

Shifu sighed "But I will do it, and then it shall be disposed of".

Crane handed it to him and he walked off.

Shifu rolled the stone about in his hand, _"I can feel the stone's power coursing through me, I can't waste anytime, I'll bring the palace back, I lied to Crane I don't think it can be destroyed so I'm just going to have to seal it somewhere and take it's location to my grave"._

Shifu began the walk up to the palace's remains, he sighed inwardly "_And then we need to start preparing for Po's funeral, I'll have one of the five stay with Mr Ping, perhaps Viper she is a people person after all. I hope Tigress is doing __OK but knowing her she'll probably want to be alone for a while, I'll grant her that but she will go to Po's funeral"._

**The story is going to skip forward a bit now, for Tigress and the five at least. Unless of course people want to see the funeral.**


	4. Chapter 3

**The Way Back**

**Chapter 3- What We Become**

Po woke up suddenly, he laid still for a moment before sitting up with a groan.

He clutched his head, he'd had the nightmare again, the same nightmare he's been having since he'd got here two years ago.

Everything he did in the nightmare was the same, even his reactions never changed, it was like he was stuck in a loop.

_A bright flash burned it's way through the shrubbery, Po fell to the ground with a grunt, "It __worked finally! Now I can see Tigress and Dad again after all this time"._

_He ran through the forest to try and find the valley.. He stumbled upon it after a good twenty minutes._

_It didn't look any different, but Po felt a coldness in the air. He went to his father's restaurant first to check up on him._

_When he walked under the arch he glanced at one of the posters on the wall which visually documented some bargain, but Po couldn't read the writing it was all jumbled up, he dismissed it and continued._

_He opened the door to the restaurant and poked his head in, he frowned when he heard crying from upstairs._

_"Dad? Are you Ok?" Po called out...no response, he made his way upstairs cautiously._

_He pushed the door to his dad's room open slowly, what he saw inside shocked him._

_Mr Ping was certainly in the room, he was sitting on the bed crying to himself, what shocked Po however was the terrible shape that he was in._

_He had lost a lot of weight and looked like he hadn't slept in days, his eyes were bloodshot and red from the crying and clearly hadn't been looking after himself properly._

_"Dad...no" said Po sadly, he reached out to comfort him but his hand just passed through him like he wasn't even there._

_Mr Ping also hadn't responded to Po's words either, "So you can't see or hear me then?" asked Po out loud._

_Mr Ping managed to get words out between his sobs "W-why did you have to go Po?You've left me all alone"._

_Po sighed "I can't believe how selfish I am, I've left all the people I love Dad. Tig-"._

_Po gasped, after hearing Dad's cries he'd totally forgotten about finding Tigress, he looked at Mr Ping one more time before heading off to the palace to see if he could find his love._

_He quickly reached the base of the Thousand Steps and started to leap them two at a time, when he reached the top he observed that he wasn't tired at all._

_Po went to the Training Hall first, he knew that if Tigress was hurting then that was where she would go to try and work it off._

_The doors opened with a loud creak and he went inside, Crane and Viper were sparring on the Jade Turtle Shell of Wisdom but apart from that the hall was deserted._

_He looked at them softly for a moment before going to the Sacred Peach Tree, he knew after spending a night here with Tigress oh so long ago that they both used that location to try and relax._

_He got to the top of the path and saw her looking out into the distance, she had her back turned to him, even with her back turned to him Po could almost feel the emotions radiating off of her._

_Po walked towards her, put his arm around her waist and tried to embrace her to no avail, his hand merely slipped through her just like it did with his father, he desperately longed for her touch, the feel of her soft fur against his , the feeling of her being so close yet so far away was maddening._

_"I'm so sorry Tigress, I can see that you're in pain and it's my fault, but like I promised I will find a way back to you just give me more time, I don't know if I'm getting glimpses into our world or if this just a nightmare but it's driving me insane"._

Po snapped out of his daydream and wiped his forehead which was coated in sweat from his nightmare.

Po stole a glance out of the window in his room, it was still nighttime without a star in the sky, Po estimated that he hadn't even had an hours sleep.

Po thought about his nightmare for a moment before going to his desk and resuming his attempts to make a new stone.

Unbeknownst to Po however the remaining masters had noticed his lack of sleep and were talking about it in the kitchen.

"In ninety-six hours he's had about three hours sleep, that just isn't enough" said Mantis, shortly after Po's arrival he had demanded that Mantis be released.

_Po looked down at Viper and Monkey, they shifted uncomfortably at his gaze which Po noticed distastefully, they had obviously become used to being The Dragon Warrior's drones._

_Viper had explained everything quickly quickly to Monkey who was still having a hard time believing that the Po he had known for years was now gone._

_"Actually if it makes you feel better Monkey, I don't know what happened to him, he could still be on my world wreaking havoc" said Po sarcastically, he knew it sounded harsh but he couldn't forget that they had let innocent people die just to stay on Po's good side._

_"Where is Mantis? Your Crane said he is still alive in this world" asked Po almost accusingly._

_Monkey was still silently taking everything in so Viper spoke up for the both of them, "You asked us t-, well our Po asked to put him a cell in the dungeon, presumably he was going to put him down at some point later on"._

_Po thought for a moment "Bring him up here, we need to get things back to normal"._

From that day things had slowly been moving back to "normal" between the three master, although Po occasionally saw Mantis throwing dirty looks at the pair who had betrayed him.

"He's just trying to get back to his world Mantis, besides this place isn't his mess to clean up...it's ours we could've stopped it at any time and we didn't, now me and Viper have to live with that" said Monkey.

Mantis scowled at him "We? Me and Crane did everything we could've it's your fault and it's also your fault that Crane's dead as well".

Viper broke up their fight quickly "This isn't about us it's about Po, we need to do everything we can to help him get back to his world, now instead of arguing pointlessly let's work together to find a solution".

Mantis nodded cautiously, Monkey nodded as well.

"Hey I have an idea" said Monkey enthusiastically, "Do you remember the Soothsayer from Gongmen?".

Viper nodded "Yeah what about her?".

"We could go and ask her for advice, she may already know the answer".

Mantis smirked "If this works you might actually redeem yourself a bit".

xxxxx

_2 Weeks after Po's "Death"._

Shifu was sat meditating by the Sacred Peach Tree looking for an answer, he gazed up into the early morning sky for comfort, he reflected on the past two weeks for a moment looking for a way out of their situation.

The funeral had been very emotional, every member of the Furious Five had made a eulogy bar Tigress, she had just sat in her seat and stared into space, she didn't cry once.

Tigress spent her days throwing herself into Kung Fu, she woke up, trained all day and then went to sleep again, she had hardly eaten anything and she hadn't said a word to anyone.

_"She is sticking to this routine because in some way this is her way of being closer to Po, it reminds her of the routine we had when Po was here with us"_ Shifu thought.

She always slept in Po's room because of his scent being all over it, whenever someone mentioned Po she would leave the room or if they were training she would leave and train by herself for the rest of the day.

Shifu invited Mr Ping up to the palace one day to talk to Tigress, he thought that maybe sharing the pain of loss with someone who knew exactly what she was going through would help.

When she saw Mr Ping it just reminded her of Po, she left and didn't return until everyone was asleep, Mr Ping stayed and talked to Shifu and the Five about Po and his life, funny anecdotes etc.

Shifu and the Five had naturally become very worried for her, although Shifu had said to the Five to give Tigress her space for a while even he didn't think she would get this bad.

The Five often tried to communicate with her but were just greeted with silence, she treated Crane the worst she didn't even acknowledge him when she sparred against him...she may as well have been beating up one of the wooden dummies...if there were any left she would have, it was almost like she blamed him for Po's death on some small level.

_"Maybe she's angry because if Crane hadn't never come back to this point then Po would never of had to fight himself"._

_"Po if you're out please come back, we need you...she needs you now more then ever"_ Shifu thought desperately to himself, the sun had risen and the gong was about to ring, he sighed and made his way back to the barracks to begin another day of routine.


	5. Chapter 4

**The Way Back**

**Just to make something clear for people, the nightmare that Po has been having isn't him getting a glimpse into the world he left behind, it is him imagining what might of happened since he left, because these nightmares are so vivid he thinks that they are visions.**

**Chapter 4 - Tender**

_The Future_

Mantis woke up to the smell of cooking, it was early morning, back in the old days this was about the time when the gong would of rung, _"I guess it still comes naturally to me" _he thought with a dry chuckle.

Mantis got up, stretched and went to find the source of the smell.

He walked into the kitchen and saw Po leaning over preparing food, "Hey Po, it's a bit early for you isn't it? What are you doing?".

Po jumped at the sound of Mantis's voice, he had been so deep in thought that he hadn't heard him come in...being tired didn't help either.

Po turned to face Mantis who gasped at the sight of Po's appearance.

He look exhausted, the space around his eyes had become sullen and darker, Po's fur was less shiny then usual and his posture didn't look too great either.

Po ignored Mantis's expression, "Nothing really, I'm just making breakfast for all of you, after that we can train for a bit, then I'm going to get back to work, I'm so close I can just feel it!".

He turned back to his food and continued preparing it, Mantis looked with great concern upon his friend.

Before Mantis could say anything Viper and Monkey entered the kitchen and sat down.

Po served them dumplings and soup and sat down silently.

Viper gave Mantis a look, she was telling him to tell Po what they had talked about last night.

Mantis scowled at her cowardice, he cleared his throat which caused Po to look up.

"Listen Po, me and the other have noticed how hard you're working on finding your way back, and the truth is the way you're going, you're going to end up killing yourself".

Po looked back at his food considering a reply.

"I can't waste any time, I've had to wait two years and I'm barely holding myself together, god knows how Tigress and the others must feel" Po almost sounded angry.

Mantis shook his head "I'm not saying that you haven't been working hard enough, quite the opposite, but we may have a suggestion ".

Po gestured with his hand so Mantis would continue.

"When we went to Gongmen City all those years ago we met a soothsayer", Po nodded "I know, I've lived through that, what's your point?".

Viper took over "Maybe she knows a way to get you back, at the very least she may be able to tell you your future which could hold the secret to making a stone".

Po weighed up the pros and cons in his mind, _"Okay first the cons, if this ends up being a wild goose chase then I've lost at least three days from travel and another three to get back here, she may also not want to help me, after all I did kill Shen in this world. The pros are that if this works then I can go home, while that's the only one it's pretty much the ultimate pro"_.

Po smirked "Lets do it!" he stood up and brandished his fist in the air epically.

Viper noticed that he didn't look tired when he smiled like that and all of his energy seemed to come back to him.

The others all agreed, Po sat back down "So we should leave as soon as we can right?" Monkey nodded "Yeah the sooner the better".

Now they had a plan.

A couple of hours later they all stood at the top of the stairs leading down into the village, Po was wearing a pack containing all of his research materials and his letters.

"Wait before we go I just need to do something" said Po, he took his pack off and handed it to Monkey to hang onto.

Po ran up to the spot which he had been meaning to come to for awhile now.

He knelt down in front of it and rubbed some of the moss of the tombstone, it revealed Tigress's name on it.

"So this might be the only time I see you Future Tigress, that's got a weird ring to it hasn't it?" Po chewed his lip anxiously.

He stood up "I don't really have much to say, he sighed, "I don't know how to feel, I mean, I know that I'll always love any Tigress but I didn't know you at all so...I'm sorry".

Po started to walk away, he stopped and looked over his shoulder and spoke, "I've tried to get things back to normal here as much as I can although I don't think it will ever be the same again".

Po walked back down to the Three and grabbed his pack off of Monkey, when he had finished strapping it onto himself they started to make their way down the stairs.

Po was nervous it had been a while since he had come down to the village, the last time he did he had been regarded with suspicion and mistrust, many people had thrown things at him and called him a monster.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs they all looked around cautiously, the village looked deserted.

"Where is everyone? It's the middle of the afternoon" asked Monkey to no one in particular.

"I dunno Monkey it might have something to do with the fact that everyone is scared of us!" yelled Mantis.

"Yeah and having an argument with each other is definitely going to help" said Viper while rolling her eyes.

Po gasped when he realized something "Hey guys, who's going to protect the Valley while we're gone?".

"We don't need anybody here, ever since our Po started his campaign nobody has tried to invade or destroy this village, it won't hurt to tell anybody that he's gone" said Mantis.

"But nobody's been executed for two years, aren't people going to wonder why?" said Po exasperatedly.

Viper shook her head "No, you've been seen around the village, as far as anybody is concerned The Dragon Warrior never left".

Po became silent _"Why should it matter to me? I don't belong here...what am I saying I can't let any innocents die because of my selfishness"_.

"No!, Two of you need to stay here to protect everyone" admonished Po.

The Three looked at each other, none of them found Po's concern warranted, he hadn't been around to see that because of what The Dragon Warrior did nobody would dare try to attack the Valley.

"How about we just get more rhino guards?" asked Monkey.

Po smirked "Ok fine, but you're going to have to stay here and supervise them".

Monkey groaned "How come I'm getting benched?".

"Because you brought it up" snickered Mantis, he turned to Po "Now can we go?", Po nodded and the others set off leaving Monkey to protect the village.

Monkey watched their retreating forms with a frown.

He thought of what Po was going through and wished his friends luck on their perilous journey.

xxxxx

_Back in Po's world_

This was it! Crane was finally going to tell Viper how he felt about her, he had learnt from Po to do it as soon as possible.

Crane was standing outside her room, it was night time, it had been a long day of training mainly because he had been Tigress's punching bag for today.

He raised his wing and softly knocked on her door.

After a moment of agonizing silence the door opened to reveal a very tired looking Viper, when she saw Crane her expression changed from one of exhaustion to happiness.

"Hey Crane, is there something I can help you with?" asked Viper with a smile.

Crane put his wings together nervously "W-well you see the thing is Viper, I want to t-tell you something that I've waited a long time to tell you".

Down the hall laying on Po's bed, Tigress could hear the entire conversation...and it hurt her...hurt her badly, _"It reminds me of when I admitted my feelings to Po"_ with this thought she unsheathed her claw, dug them into Po's mattress and desperately longed for escape into her dreams.

Crane and Viper were unaware of Tigress at the moment however.

"What is it Crane?" asked Viper, on the outside she tried to keep a cool head but on the inside her heart was doing somersaults and she was getting breathless.

He kept trying to start a sentence but only nervous sounds kept coming out, he sighed and just lent forward and kissed Viper, putting everything he couldn't vocalize into a passionate kiss.

When he pulled away they looked into each others eyes, they were both panting from the lack of air.

"I love you too Crane" said Viper simply.

Crane beamed with happiness, after many years of longing Viper was finally with him!


	6. Chapter 5

**The Way Back**

**Chapter 5- The Most Important Time **_**Is **_**Now**

_The Future - The Kowloon Mountains_

The trio had been traveling for nearly three days now, Po recognized this place from when he and his five had traveled to Gongmen for the first time, this was where he had slipped and rolled down the mountain in a giant snowball, Tigress had helped him out of it when she reached the bottom.

He was a bit more cautious this time around and managed to get to the bottom of the mountain still in the shape of a food loving panda bear.

_"Okay, if I'm right then by the end of today we should be able to get another fishing boat from a fisherman who just happens to be around...I'm surprised we managed to get one the first time, on reflection this plan does rely on luck a bit"_ thought Po.

"PO! SNAP OUT OF IT! yelled Mantis, Po shook his head and noticed he had nearly walked off of a cliff in his daydreaming state, he looked over the edge...he couldn't see a bottom.

"What is wrong with you Po? God! You could of just walked off of the edge because you weren't paying attention" scolded Viper.

Po smirked awkwardly and bashfully shrugged "Uhhh Sorry".

Neither of them could stay angry at Po so they just carried on.

By nightfall they had reached a fishing village, it looked pretty much the same as the one from Po's world. It didn't take them long to find a fisherman willing to rent them a boat, Viper and Mantis were the ones who actually had to make the trade as they were afraid that he might recognize Po and refuse to barter with them out of fear.

Unlike his earlier trip to Gongmen Po was relatively undisturbed by unpleasant thoughts, he even managed to not have a nightmare for once which he put down to the sereneness of the area.

When they arrived in Gongmen he felt refreshed and better then he had felt in weeks, they docked and gathered to discuss a plan.

"Ok, what I think we should do is split up, if we find her we bring her back here and wait for the remaining two to come back, we'll search for an hour then come back here to compare notes" said Po confidently.

Viper and Mantis were shocked at how naturally leadership seemed to come to Po, they nodded and both took off quickly into separate directions.

Po yawned, stretched and made his way into Gongmen to search for the Soothsayer

The streets were bustling and crowded, this was the first time Po had seen it like this although he reflected the last time he had been here everyone was under the proverbial thumb of Lord Shen.

He was also surprised that nobody seemed to recognize him, he put it down to the fact that because everyone was so busy nobody was _truly_ looking at Po and besides he did look a lot younger then the Dragon Warrior.

"You don't belong here, do you?"

Po whirled around at the sound of that oh so familiar voice, sitting on a mat nearby was none other then the Soothsayer, she had her eyes closed and her head down, in front of her were various materials, feathers, fur and such.

He bounded over to her desperate to see if she could help him.

"You know I thought it would have been harder to find you".

She looked up at him with an amused expression on her face, "Don't you think that I might of predicted your arrival and sat here to make it easier for you to find me?".

Po shrugged "I don't really know", his expression became serious "How do you know that I don't belong here?".

The Soothsayer put a feather and a fine powder into the pure white bowl in front of her before answering him.

"It's simple really, you don't _look _like you belong, you also look at everything with weary eyes like you have seen it all before, you also have a far away about you like you are thinking about someone".

Po gasped at her observational skills.

"T-that's amazing you could tell all of that just by glancing at me?"

She nodded and smirked "Being a Soothsayer doesn't hurt either".

She stood up "Now let us talk more privately , I know why you are here and the knowledge that you have come here seeking".

She walked briskly off and Po followed her, he was surprised at how swiftly she could move he almost lost her once or twice in the crowd and struggled to keep up with her sometimes.

Finally to Po's relief they stopped at a empty looking house, she looked back to see a heavily panting Po and went inside.

Po followed her in and was surprised at the level of clutter inside the house, books were stacked impossibly high, there were bowls of feather and rocks in random places and there was a thin layer of dust coating everything in the room.

"Whoops sorry", Po chuckled nervously and raised his foot to reveal that he had just smashed a particularly nice looking bowl.

Without looking back she said "It doesn't matter I already bought a replacement", she sat down on a nearby mat and gestured Po over to her.

Shaking his head in bemusement Po joined her.

"I thought you could only see into the future?" said Po.

"I can also see into the present" she said, the Soothsayer began to put a seemingly random assortment of objects into a dish.

Po looked at her with a raised eyebrow "But I can do that too".

She looked up from her task to reply , "Yes everyone can but some people don't realize how important a skill that truly is".

Po was starting to get irritated "Look" he said while clutching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index claw.

Before he knew what was happening he started to raise his voice a bit "Can you stop jerking me around, someone I care about could be in trouble, so can you just tell me if you can really glance into different dimensions!" Po had stood up in his anger and he was glaring at the Soothsayer.

"Of course I can" she replied sharply while glaring back "It's just that until now I've never had the chance to try, nobody I know is stupid enough to try and cross dimensions"

"I didn't choose to be here" he hissed in outrage.

"Of course you did, everyone has a choice, you knew that the only way to keep your body and mind was to come here so you did, subconsciously as some would say".

Po took a deep breath to calm himself down "What?".

"You must of known that Kung Fu to Kung Fu you couldn't possibly have beaten your counterpart he's just too powerful, you knew deep down that the only way to win was to come here".

Po sighed "But by coming here I've lost so much, and the people I love are suffering".

The Soothsayer smiled warmly at him "But you're alive Po, and you _will _get back to Tigress, your father and the rest of your family".

Po smiled back "So what do I have to do to get back? and how do I do it?".

The Soothsayer grabbed a nearby mortar and pestle and started to mix something together, when she had finished she tipped the contents of the bowl in with the other ingredients she had been tampering with during their conversation.

As soon as the mixture made contact it began to burn a bright purple, it was almost blinding and it reminded Po of the light that had come off of the Sacred Blood Stone before he had been sent here.

When it had died down Po looked towards the Soothsayer who was grinning at him knowingly, "Like that" she said simply.

xxxxxx

Mantis was making his way back to the dock, he had found nothing (He wasn't to know that he was never going to find the Soothsayer) and was afraid of disappointing Po.

He spotted Viper sitting on a barrel near where they had arrived, he made his way over.

"So did you find anything?" He asked hopefully.

She shook her head "No, I asked around but the Soothsayer apparently hasn't been seen in some time".

Mantis sighed "That's a shame I was hoping we might have found a lead for Po here".

Viper put her tail on Mantis's "shoulder" to comfort him "We shouldn't give up just yet, Po may have found something".

Mantis nodded "Yeah I guess".

An uncomfortable silence descended upon them.

Mantis glanced at Viper who staring into the distance, _"Ok, I can't hate her for the rest of my life, she and Monkey at least deserve that"_.

He cleared his throat to get her attention, it worked and she looked at him.

"Look Viper" he started nervously, he couldn't make eye contact with her, _"How is it that this is hers and Monkey's fault yet I'm the one apologizing and feeling guilty?"_.

She noticed his nervousness and smiled to calm him.

"I know that what you and Monkey did was wrong and because of your enabling many people died".

Viper smile died down and she opened her mouth to protest, Mantis held his "thingy" up to silence her.

"But what I'm trying to say is that I forgive you, I know things will never truly go back to what they were, but I want our friendship to at least be on the way there".

Viper beamed at him and they met in a hug...well the best kind of hug that a praying mantis and a tree viper could possibly do.

"Thank you Mantis, I won't waste this second chance" Viper pulled out of the hug and resumed waiting for Po.

"You're lucky Viper, I only forgive _really _pretty girls" he joked.

Viper blushed and hissed "Shut up Mantis".


	7. Chapter 6

**The Way Back**

**Chapter 6-No Sacrifice, No Victory**

_Back With Po and the Soothsayer_

"Like what?" Po asked, "You can't just do something and expect me to understand it".

The Soothsayer chuckled "No I suppose not, very well I will tell you how".

Po got comfortable, he could feel that this was going to be a long explanation.

The Soothsayer sat back down and took a deep breath, "You must know by now that creating an actual stone is impossible without taking a life".

Po nodded "I'm desperate to get back but I won't ever take a life to do it".

"Indeed, however it is possible to mimic certain...properties of the stone, for instance you might be able to harness it's ability to travel across dimensions".

Po felt a glimmer of hope, it was almost alien to him after constant failure, "Ok how?"

"Tell me Dragon Warrior, what are The Sacred Blood Stone's base ingredients? What do you _need _to make one?"

Po scratched his chin in thought "I don't know, I've just been experimenting with many different elements and materials".

"While that is a very methodical approach, it will take you decades if you do it at this rate".

Po sighed in defeat, _"So it looks like I'm stuck here, I can't believe it! This just isn't fair"_.

Almost as if she read his mind she said "Do not fear Dragon Warrior for there is a way for you to do it within two days".

Po jumped up in excitement "Really? YES!, so what do I have to do?"

She held a hand up to calm him down, "Before I tell you I must warn you, this is a dangerous path Po, it could be the most emotionally taxing thing you've ever done, so what would you prefer? The long but guaranteed path which will take decades or the short path which you may not walk away from?".

Po didn't even flinch "Getting back to her is the only thing that matters" he answered confidently.

The Soothsayer nodded "I thought as much", she smiled "OK then Dragon Warrior, what you seek lies in the Forest of Thundering Winds".

Po had never heard of the place although it did sound foreboding, "OK, where is it?"

"You must head east, It is a days journey from here by boat, you must also go alone as an ancient enchantment only allows you to gain access when you are by yourself".

Po was worried about going by himself but the thought of being with Tigress in less than three days spurred him on.

"What exactly is it that I'm looking for?"

The Soothsayer retrieved a small scroll from a nearby shelf and handed it to Po, "It is a plant known as the Wu-Ben nectar, it is a small pink flower that grows near riverbeds, it is very rare and will be difficult to find".

She gestured to the scroll "In that scroll are things you will also need beside Wu-Ben, it is...very specific".

Po opened the scroll and real aloud the other ingredients "Water 35 liters, Carbon 20 kilograms, Ammonia 4 liters, Lime 1.5 kilograms, Phosphorus 800 grams, Salt 250 grams, Saltpeter 100 grams and Sulfur 80 grams".

He closed the scroll and looked at the Soothsayer with worry written on his face "Wow no kidding, the measurements go down to the last detail, however I should be able to get most of that stuff at the local market or I could find them on the way".

The Soothsayer nodded "Indeed, however all of it will be useless without Wu-Ben so make that your priority".

Po stood up and put the scroll in his pocket, "OK I'll start right now, the sooner the better".

The Soothsayer stood up as well "Good luck Dragon Warrior, I know you can do it".

Po bowed "Thank you for your help".

With that he left the house and started to make his way to the dock to inform Mantis and Viper of what had happened.

Back inside the house The Soothsayer was looking at the real scroll, _"The Wu-Ben nectar still contains someone's life force, I'm sorry for lying to you Dragon Warrior but you deserve to be happy and I know you would never use it if you knew that someone sacrificed their self to make it"_.

The Soothsayer looked at her hand which had begun to fade, _"I hope my sacrifice can absolve me of the pain that I put on you and Lord Shen"_.

A single tear fell from her eye, she was gone before it hit the ground.

xxxxx

Mantis and Viper saw Po making his way towards them with a look of joy written on his face, _"Looks like he found something, I'm glad that this wasn't a wasted trip" _thought Mantis.

"So did you find anything Po?" asked Viper.

Po grinned and nodded, he told them the whole story.

"So what do you want me and Viper to do while you're up finding this thing?" asked Mantis, as far as he was concerned he wasn't worried, he knew Po could do anything if he put his mind to something so he didn't object to Po going solo.

Po thought for a moment, "OK you guys go back to the Valley, Monkey may need backup if the Valley is attacked.

"OK then Po, are you sure that you'll be okay by yourself?" asked Viper always the worrier.

Po gave a wave of the hand to show his nonchalant attitude "Don't worry it'll be fine".

He looked at both Viper and Mantis seriously "I'll come back to the Valley before leaving, I couldn't leave without saying goodbye".

Mantis looked at him for a second "Well I can" and with that he turned back to the dock to get a boat.

Po chuckled "WELL BYE THEN" he yelled at Mantis's retreating figure, he turned back to Viper "You should get going to Viper, if you don't hurry he might just leave you here".

Viper smiled "OK then, but be careful Po you wouldn't want to die before getting back to your girlfriend".

Po hugged Viper and then made his way into the market to start gathering supplies.

"WAIT PO!" the yell stopped him in his tracks, Mantis landed in front of him.

"What is it Mantis? If you wanted to say goodbye you could of ju-" a bag of coins smashed Po in the face cutting off his sentence.

"You're gonna need money aren't you Po? Well here's all the money we brought, as far as I'm concerned you need it way more".

Po rubbed the spot where the bag had connected _"That's gonna leave a mark"_ he thought annoyingly.

"Owww, why did you do that Mantis you jerk?" Po growled.

Mantis looked sternly at Po "If you had been more awake you would've caught that or at least blocked it".

Po sighed "Yeah I know, bu-".

Mantis floored Po "No, no but you're destroying yourself Po, I know how much she means to you really I do, but think about the other people who care about you not just Tigress".

Po felt guilty "I'm sorry, you're right I'll be more careful".

Po stood up "Thank you Mantis", Po bowed.

"Just get back to your world Po that's how you can thank me", Mantis hopped off back to the dock.

Po picked himself up, put the money in his pocket with the scroll and started to walk towards the marketplace.

xxxxx

_Po's World_

It was morning, Viper woke up and found herself in Crane's wings she panicked for a second before remembering the night before with a smile.

"Crane...Crane wake up" she said softly.

He slowly stirred and opened his eyes, when he saw Viper he smirked shyly.

"So how are you going to get back to your room?" he asked.

"I can probably make it before the gon-" she was cut off by the ringing of said gong.

They gasped and looked into each others eyes, after a while they began to laugh.

"Oh well, they were going to find out sooner or later" Crane said.

Viper uncoiled herself from his grasp and waited by the door for him.

Crane got up and stretched, he reached for his hat and placed it in it's usual spot.

He moved to the door and stood next to Viper, "Are you ready?" he said.

"Yes" she replied.

They both opened the door to reveal...nobody there.

"Where is everyone?" asked Crane in disbelief.

Viper shook her head "I don't know", they were both secretly glad however to have avoided the embarrassment and the inappropriate comments.

They both went to the training hall, as they approached it they could hear loud noises and grunts.

"Well at least we know Tigress is around" said Crane, he went to walk away but Viper tugged on his wing.

"Lets go tell her" said Viper.

Crane raised an eyebrow "Why? She just wants to be alone you know that".

Viper nodded glumly "I know, I also know that hearing about her friends being in a relationship may make her more upset, but she is a friend and this may make her stop training for a bit".

Crane sighed "Ok then", they started to walk towards the entrance "Don't get me wrong Viper it's not that I don't want her to know it's just that she's still grieving and she needs her space".

He pushed the door open and ducked quickly as a large chunk of wood hit the space where his head would have been.

Tigress padded over to them slowly, she didn't too great her fur had lost some of it's shininess and she looked tired.

"I apologize Master Crane I didn't know you were going to walk in" she said coldly, she didn't sound sorry however and didn't show any emotion.

"It's OK Tigress honestly" Crane grunted, he stood up and dusted himself off.

"Are you OK Tigress, you don't look so good" asked Viper, Tigress scoffed internally at the concern in her voice.

_"They can't possibly understand how I feel"_ she thought angrily.

"I'm fine" she said simply.

Tigress walked out of the training hall "Congratulations on your new relationship".

Crane gasped "How could you possibly know that?", his question went unanswered however as Tigress simply walked off to the Peach Tree.

Crane looked at Viper "I told you".

"Ah there you are Crane and Viper" said Shifu suddenly , he was followed by Mantis and Monkey.

"Hello Master Shifu" said Crane and Viper while bowing.

Shifu looked around "Where is Tigress? She is usually the first one here".

Viper spoke up "She was here training a minute ago" she paused for a moment "Master I don't think she's slept at all and she really didn't look too great either".

Shifu sighed "You four begin training, I will speak to Tigress" he looked at Crane "Which way did she go?".

Crane gestured in the direction of the peach tree "She went to the Sacred Peach Tree".

Shifu nodded "Thank you Crane, now go and begin your training I will be back soon".

The other bowed and went into the hall, Shifu looked towards the peach tree "It's time to end this".


	8. Chapter 7

**The Way Back**

**Chapter 7- Tigress Trouble**

Shifu slowly made his way up the path to the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom, he was nervous, it had been a long time since he had tried talking to Tigress as anything other then her master.

When he reached the top he saw Tigress's somber form leaning against the tree, her shoulders were slumped and she was gazing out towards the horizon.

When she heard him approaching she scowled to herself , "What do _you_ want Master?" she said it without turning around, it was said calmly but Shifu heard a fountain of emotion hidden in her statement, she wanted him to go away but she desperately wanted company, she was conflicted and it pained Shifu to see her like this.

"You've been in pain for long enough now Tigress and I think it's time that we talk about it so you can try and move on" he said calmly.

She whirled around angrily "Move on! How do you expect me to move on?".

Shifu kept his calm exposure "We are all hurt by Po's death Tigress it isn't only you".

Shifu's calmness only served to infuriate Tigress more "How dare you come up here and say that any of you ever cared about Po, _you_ hated him the moment he got here, the only person you've ever loved was a power crazed lunatic".

That remark stung Shifu deeply, his fist shook with anger and without thinking he said the worst thing he possibly could of "Don't forget Tigress that you treated Po just as badly, he cared about you so much and all you did was throw insults and contempt at him".

Tigress gasped in disbelief, she could feel her heart break at the cold tone and words Shifu had used.

"I..I _hate _ you" she hissed, before Shifu could respond she got on all fours and ran down to the village.

He sighed "I'm sorry Tigress, I just want you to be happy".

xxxxx

Tigress stopped running and stood up, she started to walk quickly around the village to try and clear her head, when she got to the Dragon Warrior Noodle and Tofu restaurant she walked with her head down, she didn't want anyone to talk to her.

To her annoyance she heard someone calling her name, "Tigress! Master Tigress wait!".

She recognized the voice, she stopped and saw Mr Ping gesturing for her to come over, he was standing in the entrance of the shop, when he saw that he had gained Tigress's attention he walked inside.

She thought for a moment _"I can't talk to him it's too painful, it's my fault Po's gone why would he ever want to speak to me?"._

She started to walk away but her conscience stopped her _"I can't ignore him, Po would want me to talk to him besides he is Po's father it would be disrespectful towards Po for me to walk away from him"_.

She slowly padded into the shop, because it was morning there was hardly anyone about.

Mr Ping was standing behind the counter now, he was playing around with a coin...probably out of nervousness about talking to Master Tigress, especially a Master Tigress that was in an incredible amount of pain.

"What is it Mr Ping?" she asked, she couldn't make eye contact with him so she settled for staring at the wall behind him.

He went over to the door and opened it "Would you mind coming inside Tigress, I wish to talk to you about something".

Tigress struggled internally for a moment before clenching her fist and shaking her head, "No Mr Ping, of course I wouldn't".

She made her way inside and shut the door behind her, she tried to avert her eyes from the baby pictures of Po that were scattered about the kitchen.

There was an awkward silence while Mr Ping pulled up two chairs for them to sit on, he sat on his and gestured to Tigress to sit down, she sat down hesitantly.

Tigress broke the silence "So what do you want Mr Ping?" she asked coldly.

Mr Ping was taken aback by the harshness in her tone, "I just wanted to make sure that you were OK, Po cared about you a lot and I want to honor him by making sure that you are OK".

Tigress sighed "I'm fine", she quickly stood up to leave.

Before she could open the door a meat cleaver hit the spot where her head would've been, she gasped in surprise and turned fiercely to Mr Ping.

"Why did you do that?" she asked angrily.

Mr Ping scowled at her "Don't lie to me about your feelings Tigress" he breathed deeply and his expression softened. "Po was my son and sometimes I don't even want to do my job because I miss him so much, so I can only guess how you feel".

Tigress felt ashamed of herself for not considering his feelings, the wall she had was starting to crack.

Mr Ping's beak opened in surprise, Tigress looked like she was going to cry.

He rushed over to her and hugged her, "It's OK Tigress just let it out".

She kneeled down and returned the hug, Mr Ping could feel her silently sobbing into his shoulder, he rubbed her back affectionately.

They stayed like that for a while, Tigress suddenly pulled away and walked over to the chair, she sat down finally ready to talk to someone.

Mr Ping smiled and joined her.

"Tigress did you know that you were Po's favorite of the Furious Five".

She nodded "Yes I did, he told me when we came here on our date...last month" she couldn't believe it had only been a month since their date, it had felt like years and on that day they never imagined that either of them would be in their respective positions.

Mr Ping beamed "Hang on let me get you something" he got out of his seat and went upstairs.

Tigress shuffled in her seat, she was uncomfortable but she stayed because talking about Po might make her loss easier to cope with.

Mr Ping returned with a piece of paper in his wing, he handed it to Tigress.

The paper was weathered from age, it was a very crude drawing of a tiger like figure wearing a red vest doing kung fu, at the bottom of the paper there was some writing "To Tigress from your biggest fan, Po age 9".

Tigress's heart warmed at the sight of his affection for her even at a young age, she looked up at Mr Ping "He made this for...me?

Mr Ping nodded "He walked up to the palace to give it to you in person but he was turned away".

Tigress looked back at the picture "In those days Shifu forbid me from getting any letters just because it would've distracted me from kung fu".

Mr Ping observed the way she looked at it, she analysed every detail and every time she looked at the message her eyes shone just for a second.

"Tigress you keep it", Tigress looked up in shock "But this is-".

"_No _buts Tigress, I have years of memories of Po, you didn't know him that long and I _know_ that you loved him just as much as I did so you keep it".

Tigress smiled for the first time in two weeks "Thank you Mr Ping", she put a paw to her face and felt her smile, the sensation was almost alien to her because of the events of the past couple of weeks.

Mr Ping chuckled "I have to give it to you really it _is _addressed to you after all".

Tigress bit her lip apprehensive at what she was going to ask "Mr Ping w-would you mind if I stayed here in Po's room tonight, I usually stay in his room at the palace"

Mr Ping's eyes widened "I knew you were close but I didn't think you were so close that you shared a bed with him".

Tigress blushed heavily "N-no I didn't mean that it's just..well being a feline I have a very strong sense of smell and..if I sleep in Po's bed or be near his belongings then it feels like he is...with me somehow".

Mr Ping nodded "I understand, of course you can stay here".

Tigress smiled again, she stood up and bowed "Thank you Mr Ping".

She left and went upstairs to Po's room, Mr Ping smiled to himself.

When Tigress entered his room the amount of kung fu memorabilia and fan boy stuff in the room astounded her, the walls were literally caked in pictures and posters of her and the five although she noted that she was the most represented member of the five.

She picked up a bamboo staff that Po had made, it was clear it had been made by Po as there were bite marks on it and it was slightly splintered from use. She twirled it around for a bit before putting it back.

She sat on the bed and could visualize Po getting up and going to the palace or getting up and helping Mr Ping with the restaurant.

It was only late morning but it had been an emotionally taxing day and Tigress hadn't got any sleep the night before.

Before she laid down she spotted a small panda doll next to the pillow, she recognized it from Po's description of when he attained Inner Peace, Tigress picked it up and smelt it.

Po's scent was all over it, Tigress laid down on the bed and cuddled the plush panda doll, before too long she had drifted off to sleep.

xxxxx

Shifu walked into the noodle shop and found Mr Ping mopping the floor.

"Hello Mr Ping, how did it go?" he asked, in truth Shifu was afraid that Tigress may have damaged the shop in some way because of her anger.

Mr Ping looked up from his task and answered "Oh it went fine Master Shifu, I had to throw a meat cleaver at her but she eventually opened up a bit, she is upstairs now in Po's room".

Shifu raised an eyebrow "A...meat cleaver?".

Mr Ping shrugged off his concern "Oh don't worry I knew she would dodge it".

Shifu nodded and looked at the restaurant, nothing was damaged...apart from the gash in the door where Mr Ping had thrown the meat cleaver at it.

"Thank you for helping me with this Mr Ping, I knew Tigress would never listen to me, I haven't given her enough affection for her to want to come and talk to me" he said dejectedly, it had damaged Shifu's pride to ask Mr Ping for help, but he knew Tigress's needs were greater than his own so he relented.

"It is fine Shifu, she still has a long way to go but she is definitely less prone to violence now" Mr Ping said nonchalantly.

Shifu nodded and left to go back to the palace, he was glad to her of Tigress's fate but he wished he had the courage and inner strength to have dealt with it himself rather then call in Mr Ping.


	9. Chapter 8

**The Way Back**

**Chapter 8- The Wu-Ben Nectar**

**Sorry it's been an entire week since a chapter, I've just had a lot to do recently. To make up for it I'm also working on a one shot which will be released soon.**

Po nervously made his way through the bustling crowd, he wasn't used to being in a crowd this huge...to be honest he hadn't been in any kind of crowd for a while, after shutting himself away in a room for two years it made him nervous.

He fought and pushed his way through until he reached some carts that looked like they held what he needed, he consulted the list again.

_"I just need saltpeter, I have everything else"_, the scroll also had a map for him to look at when he actually got to the Forest of Thundering Winds.

He walked up to the nearest stall which had a small female antelope running it, "Hello ma'm" he said cheerfully.

The antelope looked at him, after taking in his appearance she gasped.

Po kept his cheerful expression "So you haven't ever seen a panda around?".

The antelope blushed "I'm sorry sir, to the tell the truth I haven't".

Po waved it off "Don't worry I'm one of a kind anyway".

The antelope smiled nervously "What do you need sir?".

"I need 100 grams of saltpeter, if you have it of course".

She checked her stock list which confirmed that she did, "I sure do, that'll be 20 Juan".

Po gave her the money "It's lucky it's so cheap, that was nearly the last of my money" he chuckled.

He bid the antelope a good day and went towards the docks to rent a boat, he counted what was left of the money Mantis had given him, _"Hmmm, I have 50 Juan left to get a boat that can safely travel for a day"_.

Po smirked in amusement _"There's no way I'm going to get a good mode of transport, Tigress why is it when I'm so close to the end that things have to get more complicated?"._

He put the saltpeter into the bag he had also bought with all the other materials that were needed. Po had bought a compass so he could find east and he had packed some emergency foods just in case.

He threw the bag onto his back and made his way to the dock.

He found a semi-decent looking one which cost 70 Juan, he managed to haggle the owner to let him use it for 50.

_"Hmmm, it's nearly dark. I'll leave first thing tomorrow"_ Po thought, his clutched his stomach when it started to rumble.

"OK buddy, we'll find an inn and get some food" Po looked up and saw a young goose looking up at him strangely.

"Hey mister" said the goose confidently, Po just stared at him "Yeah" he said finally.

"Were you just talking to your stomach?" he asked while pointing at Po's large gut.

Po blushed "...Yes" he said simply before quickly walking off.

He managed to find a room for the night, Po to his joy didn't have any kind of nightmare,_"That's two night in a row, it must be because I feel like I'm nearly at the end"_ he reflected. Po thanked and paid the innkeeper, he walked outside and breathed in the cool morning air, it was early morning, Po had got up this early just so he could leave quicker.

Po set off as soon as he could, both times when he had traveled to Gongmen he had watched the five take charge of the boat and he had paid attention just in case _he _ever needed to, on reflection this was a good idea.

The sea was calm on his journey to the Forest which Po was thankful for, the last thing he needed was a storm at sea.

The day was uneventful, Po mostly just looked into the horizon and occasionally steered the ship when it went off course.

After an entire day of this... Po was glad to spot the Forest in the distance, he squinted to try and confirm that it was indeed the place.

_"Well it definitely lives up to it's name" _Po thought gloomily, as he got closer he could hear a unearthly roar coming from the Forest, at first it sounded like a demon but Po realized that it was a gale.

Oddly enough the wind didn't push Po's small boat away, it was almost as if the wind was almost... beckoning him towards it.

Po brushed off these creepy thoughts and slowed down the craft as he got closer to the island.

He stopped the boat carefully at a reasonable distance, Po climbed on top of the boats cabin and got a good look at his surroundings. The island looked pretty average, in fact if Po hadn't heard the wind then he might of just ignored the place. The forest was situated on top of the hill, it was a steep climb and Po dreaded it...not because of the climb itself but because of Po's innate laziness protesting widly.

Po climbed back down and sealed the back making sure that nothing would spill out of it or that he wouldn't get any water in it, he tied a rope around it and to his leg.

Po was about forty feet away from the shore, he dived into the water and swam towards land.

He gasped with relief upon reaching the island, he dragged himself further up the beach and looked towards the boat, it was still there...but it was going to be difficult to get back to it.

Po sighed and undid the rope, he stood up, put the bag on his back and started to make his way towards the forest.

The evening sun bore itself onto Po's neck, sweat dripped off of him and every step was heavy and tiresome.

He took a break when he was about halfway up, annoyingly he hadn't brought any water with him. Po took the pack off him and took in the view.

Po gasped. It was breathtaking, the sun reflected beautifully off of the ocean and cast everything in a pinkish hue.

Po stood for a good ten minutes looking at the gorgeous scenery before picking his bag back up and continuing on wards.

It was nightfall by the time he had reached the top, Po collapsed to the ground and fist pumped the air "Yeah...t-take that... n-nature...you can't beat me...I- I'm the Dragon Warrior!" he huffed.

Po got up and looked at the entrance to the forest, it was dark and an eerie silence poured out of it.

He gulped nervously, an image of the Tigress in his nightmare flashed in his mind and then Po found his courage, he walked into the forest.

The forest was dense, this coupled with the darkness of the night made sure that Po could hardly see two feet in front of him, he stumbled over branches a few times.

The shrubbery just seemed endless, it felt like Po was in an inescapable maze.

Po suddenly stepped out into a clearing, he gasped as a wave of fresh air hit him, he gulped it down greedily and took note of his new surroundings, he was in a small area which was free of trees, he looked to his left and saw a small riverbed flowing freely, the ground was coated in a thin layer of grass and the moonlight illuminated a pedestal in the center.

On top of the pedestal was th- "The nectar!" Po exclaimed, he dashed over to it.

Indeed on top of the pedestal was the nectar in all of it's glory, as the Soothsayer had said it was a bright pink color which made it contrast beautifully with the moonlight highlighting it, Po almost felt bad about taking it.

Although something seemed off to Po, "I thought it was supposed to grow near riverbeds" said Po out loud..again.

Po shrugged off his concern, it just didn't seem important when compared to his find.

Po took off his pack and emptied it onto the ground, all of the materials spilled out indiscriminately.

Po gathered all of the materials he needed.

He set the mortar and pestle down next to a bowl which he would put the finished in.

Po delicately took the flower off of the pedestal "I wonder how it stayed alive so long?" he wondered aloud.

Po started to mix everything together, it was a lengthy process which took Po all of the alchemical skills that he had acquired over the past two years, within an hour it was finished.

Po gazed upon it, in the bowl lay a bright pink fluid which glowed brilliantly.

Po took out the scroll that he had gotten from the Soothsayer to see what he had to do with it.

_"Hmmm, it seems I have to drink it"_ he summarized, The Dragon Warrior put the scroll down, hesitantly picked the bowl up and smelt it.

Po recoiled at it's atrocious smell and held the bowl out at arms length.

He sighed and lifted it to his mouth, with his free hand he pinched his nose to get rid of the worst of the taste. He felt the mixture slide down his throat.

Immediately, his insides started writhing as though he'd just swallowed live snakes - doubled up, he wondered whether he was going to be sick - then a burning sensation spread rapidly form his stomach to the very ends of his fingers and toes - next, bringing him gasping to all fours, came to a horrible melting feeling, he could feel power surging through him.

Po groaned in agony, _"This is too much, I'm going to die if it doesn't stop"_.

Po tried to stand up by grasping the pedestal but he broke it with his bare hands, he gasped and looked at his unnaturally strong hands.

Po went into his inner peace stance to try and calm the raging war inside of him, as he got further into his movements the pain started to dull down a bit, when both came to a stop he breathed deeply and observed himself.

"I'M KING OF THE WORLD" he yelled happily, his voice reverberated throughout the forest.

"This power is incredible, I can take on any opponent, defeat any challenge" he got a hold of himself.

_"No I can't dawdle, I can already feel it starting to fade"._

_"I'll go back to the Valley first so I can say goodbye to everyone then I'm on my way"_.

Po focused the nectar's power within himself and let the floodgates of his chi loose.

He felt himself start to disintegrate, leaves were rising around him because of the raw power within The Dragon Warrior.

After he had completely disappeared the leaves fell back down to the ground.


	10. Chapter 9

**The Way Back**

**Chapter 9- Goodbye**

Po landed on his face with a heavy thud, he groaned as he sat up.

He suddenly remembered what he had done, "I did it...I tested it and it worked".

He took in his surroundings, he was back in his room at the Jade Palace, unfortunately it was only his room in the future, Po also observed that it was also day time, the sun shone brilliantly through his window.

_"It seems like it takes a while for me to move anywhere, I thought it would've been instantaneous...but it wasn't"_, he grumbled internally, it just meant Tigress would have to wait a bit longer.

_"But at least I can attempt travel with it, now I just have to see whether I can attempt time travel"_ he thought, Po focused on the positives after all he was nearly there.

Po breathed deeply and felt the nectar flow through him, _"Wow, it's still there...and it still freaks me out having this...thing live inside me...it feels like another person"_. Po snapped out of his daydream and focused on the mission.

_"Time to say my goodbyes, I'll gather the stuff I want to take with me, then I'll find the others"_, Po moved to his desk and collected everything he wanted to bring with him, he took his letters to Tigress (because he wanted to show her that she was always at the forefront of his mind), the notepad which he had written any notes or research materials after all he might need these in the future and finally he put a Tigress action figure which he had made in the box with everything else.

He lifted it up with a groan and carried it over to the Hall of Heroes, two rhino were once again situated outside the door, they looked bored and it seemed like they had been there for hours.

"Hey guys, how's is going?" said Po cheerfully.

They immediately snapped to attention and saluted Po, "G-good morning Dragon Warrior".

Po chuckled "Come on you I already told you...just call me Po".

The guards relaxed a bit "Sorry Po...it's just th-", Po cut him off "I know why just make sure you don't confuse me with _him_".

Po decided to lighten the mood "So have you guys seen the other masters? I kinda need to see them".

They both shook their heads "No, sorry Po".

Po shrugged and bid them farewell, he walked over to the door, opened it and called out to the five "VIPER...MANTIS...MONKEY!", no response.

He left the box there and went to the training hall, when he arrived there to his surprise none of them were present in the hall.

Po scratched his head, _"Why do I always need to spend hours looking for people, it'd be much easier if we had some way of communicating with each other then I woul-"_.

Zeng suddenly fell through the open door "Master Po! Master Po!", Po ran over to the palace messenger and put him back upright.

Po kneeled down to the goose's level, "What's all the panic for Zeng? And where are the other master?".

The palace messenger straightened out his clothing "I can answer both Dragon Warrior, they are in the village fighting off some bandits".

Po gasped "Why are there bandits in the valley?".

Zeng shrugged exasperatedly "I don't know!, maybe they assumed because there hadn't been sightings of any of the masters that it was unprotected".

Po stood up "Well time to show them that it isn't".

He ran out of the hall and made his way down to the Valley, he leaped down the stairs two at a time until he slipped and fell down the rest of the way.

Po crashed at the bottom and groaned, "I haven't done that in a while" he grumbled.

He could faintly hear the sounds of battle, The Dragon Warrior quickly picked himself up and made his way into the fray.

xxxxx

Monkey barely dodged an arrow, it grazed his arm and drew blood, he gasped and his good arm instinctively went to it to protect it.

The battle had started off well but was slowly going into the wolf bandit's favor, the rhino guards had been taken out and only himself, Mantis and Viper were left standing.

Mantis and Viper had arrived back in the Valley about half an hour ago and intercepted the bandits while on the way back to the palace, the guards had informed Monkey and they had been fighting for about twenty minutes.

Monkey was snapped out of his thoughts by Viper colliding into him, "Sorry Monkey, he sneaked up on me".

Monkey groaned in pain "There's only three of us left, so why did it have to be you that landed on me? If it was Mantis I wouldn't have felt it", Viper rolled her eyes _"Jeez, even when things look this bad he can still make a joke"_.

The aforementioned Master of the Mantis style hit a nearby wall and slid down it, "Yeah guys this isn't going well, anyone got a plan?" he said, Mantis tried to sound confident but Monkey and Viper could detect the fear in his voice, he thought they were going to die here... and they couldn't find a reason to disagree with him.

Monkey stood up shakily "No I don't, but if this is it then we're going to go out fighting". Viper and Mantis nodded in agreement and they formed up to make their final stand.

A wolf boss stepped forward in front of the twenty or so wolves that were left, he had a smug grin on his face and a very vicious looking chain hammer wrapped up in his left hand.

"Ha ha, looks like you've lost you scum" the other wolves laughed, " You're not so tough without your leader. Where's your precious Dragon Warrior now?

Mantis replied "Oh he's...out and about".

The wolf boss unfurled the chain hammer from his hand and started to swing it to build up momentum, "It doesn't matter where he is _insect_ he won't save you now".

"I disagree", suddenly Po landed on the wolf and took him out, the other wolves started to cower in fear at the sight of what they thought was the Dragon Warrior.

Po stood up to his full height "Okay I'm gonna give you all a chance to leave so you don't end up like your leader here" Po kicked the wolf boss to prove his point, "When you run away I want you to tell everyone you meet that this Valley is protected by The Dragon Warrior and The Furious Five and anyone who wants to take it will suffer a painful beat down".

The wolves stared at him, there was a tension because they didn't know how unhinged the Dragon Warrior actually was.

Po suddenly roared very loudly, the wolves ran away quickly, many were nearly trampled underfoot in their fear and panic.

Po picked up the injured wolf boss and looked him dead in the eye "If you ever come back here ever again then I will hunt you down and kill you...have you got that?" he said coldly.

The wolf boss nodded frantically, Po let go of him and he ran away.

Po turned to his friends who were all wearing shocked expressions.

Po waled over to them "Is everybody alright?", Mantis spoke up "Can I just be the first one to say never do that again, that was scary".

Po blushed "Sorry, maybe I did go a bit overboard".

Viper smiled warmly at him "Evil doesn't suit you Po", she asked the question on everybody's lips, "How did you get back here so fast? Me and Mantis only got here about forty minutes ago".

Po chuckled and gestured towards the rhino guards "Maybe we should see if their okay first".

The others agreed and set to work getting the injured guards some medical assistance.

When they had finished they went back to the palace and gathered in the Hall of Heroes.

Po quickly brought Monkey up to speed about his, Viper's and Mantis's experience in Gongmen City. Monkey saved any questions he might of had until Po had finished his tale.

Po took a deep breath and started to explain to them what had happened, his finding of the nectar, ingesting it and testing it out were all met with gasps.

When he had finished there was an awkward silence, "So how many more times can you teleport?" asked Mantis.

Po frowned in thought "I can probably only make one more trip and you all know where my destination is".

They nodded, it was finally time to say goodbye.

"I want to thank you all for helping me and looking after me since I came to this place, it's been...educational" said Po sadly.

Monkey shook his head "No Po, thank you, we've still got a long way to go before we're free from guilt but thanks to you we have a place to start" he bowed "Thank you Dragon Warrior".

Mantis yelled "WE? I was the only one here who stayed a good guy, you guys were the evil ones".

The others chuckled at Mantis's explosion.

Viper slithered forward and hugged Po tightly, "I hope you and Tigress are happy together, I know that it'll be rough when you first see her but I know that you two are destined to be with each other".

Po smiled warmly at her "Thanks Viper, I know that if you all work together that you can help rebuild this place...after all you _are _the Furious Five...well Three".

Po picked his box up and started to harness his inner chi, the nectar's effect was dissipating but there was maybe enough for a trip.

Po could feel himself start to disappear, "Goodbye everyone I hope I can see you all again", his voice was becoming more ghostly.

Mantis rolled his eyes "You're going to in a minute big guy, see ya".

Po vanished in a brilliant bright light, the master covered their eyes. When they removed them Po was no longer there.

Mantis smiled "Guys".

The others looked at him, "Let's go and do some good".

Monkey and Viper nodded and they all walked out into the Valley ready to right the wrongs that had been made.

xxxxx

This trip was different, all Po could see was rainbows upon rainbows of color. He marveled at the sight, _"Wow, it goes on as far as the eye can see"._

_"I've come so far, waited so long just to see everyone again. The long nights, the research. But it will all be worth it to see her_ again"

He suddenly landed with on his face with a thud in a familiar looking hall, it was the Hall of Heroes.

Po stood up and sighed "Why is it always the face?, seriously".

Po took in his surroundings and he realized with dread that "I haven't gone anywhere", he fell to his knees and moaned in despair, he pounded the floor with his fist.

He familiar sensed a presence and whirled around to face it.

"Po?".


	11. Chapter 10

**The Way Back**

**Chapter 10- The Dragon and the Tigress**

**Wow, I didn't expect that many reviews for the last chapter, not that I'm ungrateful it's just that I thought the previous story was more popular.**

_The day after talking to Mr Ping_

Tigress slowly opened her eyes, she clutched Po's pillow tightly to get more of his dwindling precious scent out of it. _"My heart will never belong to anyone else and I'll never forget you Po, but if I don't let go then I can't move on"._

Tigress reluctantly got up out of the bed and made her way out of the room. She neglected to write any kind of note to inform Mr Ping that she was going back to the palace, she thought it was pretty obvious to the goose...and to anyone who actually knew her where she was going.

Tigress took one last look around Po's room before leaving it and then leaving the shop.

xxxxx

"M-master Shifu?" Po said in disbelief, it had worked! Standing in front of Po was none other than _his_ Master Shifu who was currently staring open mouthed at him and dropped the tea cup he was holding, it currently lay on the ground in pieces.

Po set his box down carefully on the ground.

"Y-you're back" Shifu's voice was barely a whisper, he couldn't believe it, Po had returned!

Po rushed over and embraced Shifu in a massive bear hug, on his way over to Shifu he knocked over the box, the letters and assorted items spilled out onto the jade floor.

Shifu was taken by surprise by the hug, unlike Gongmen however he was unable to get out of it and just took the hug awkwardly.

"Yeah I am, believe me Master you're not gonna believe what I've been through, two whole years of research and failure was worth this".

Shifu eagerly pulled out of the hug "Two years?".

Po nodded "Yeah it's been two years since I last saw you and Tigress".

Shifu looked at him seriously "Po it's been nearly three weeks since you disappeared".

Po frowned "Well...that's annoying I guess, at least none of you had to wait _that _long for me to come back".

Shifu smiled on the inside _"Same old Po, more concerned with everyone else's well being then with his own"_.

Po finally asked the all important question "So...how is everyone?".

"Well Crane and Viper are...one now" said Shifu, he said the sentence as if the concept was alien to him.

Po smiled "Finally, they've liked each other for so long, it had to happen sooner or later, so what about Monkey and Mantis?".

"They are fine Po, Mantis has started to mature, your death could have been an eye opener for him. Monkey had given up his pranks, while this is a godsend everyone has started to...miss it, annoyingly I know you and him will resume that soon enough".

Po chuckled "Yeah very true", he became serious, he dreaded asking this next question. "How is Dad holding up? I felt terrible about not seeing him before it happened, I don't want him to think I hated him or something".

Shifu shook his head "Your father was naturally beside himself when I told him of your demise although he has started to recover very slightly, he will never hate you Po, you may want to go and see him as soon as you can you've no doubt missed him".

Po nodded "Of course, he was going to be the second person I saw anyway"

"However there is one person who needs you desperately...and you know who it is" said Shifu grimly.

Po noticed that Shifu had gained a sad look in his eye, Shifu was trying to remain objective and it was the first time that Po had seen him struggle to remain so. "W-where is Tigress?" he asked nervously, Po was afraid for her.

Shifu sighed "She is not in the palace or in the barracks".

Po fell to his knees and began to wail in heartbreak "No! I can't believe I was too late, she left me".

Shifu chuckled "Po, I must admit I have missed your tomfoolery, no Tigress has not left".

Po blushed heavily "Well you can't blame a guy for thinking that, any guy would be upset at the thought of losing Tigress".

Shifu frowned at Po "Quite" he said sternly.

"Yesterday Tigress went to talk to your father and she has not returned...I assume she stayed in your room".

Po chuckled nervously, "W-why would she stay in my room Master?".

Shifu sighed "Po, since you've been gone she has almost shut down completely, she won't talk to any of the five and she told me she hated me yesterday".

Po gasped, everything he had been afraid of had come true. _"No...have I lost Tigress?"_ he thought sadly.

Po became resolute "Master, I must go and find the woman I love and comfort her".

Shifu smiled warmly at Po "If anyone can help her it is you Po, the true Dragon Warrior".

Po gave a thumbs up and went to leave, "Oh and Po", Po looked over his shoulder at Shifu.

"It is good to have you back, I will see you tomorrow for training".

Po chuckled "Yes Master" he bowed and left.

When Po left the hall Shifu noticed the box Po had left behind, he wandered over to it and examined the contents, he smiled when he saw that most of it was letters to Tigress.

Shifu walked over to the Moon Pool and gazed at his reflection. "I hope he can finally bring peace back to the Valley...and to us all".

The image became distorted when a tear hit it, "Everything is going to be okay" Shifu said happily.

xxxxx

Po ran down the Thousand Stairs as fast as he could without falling down them...again.

When he reached the bottom Po sprinted towards his father's shop, he stopped and dived behind a nearby wall suddenly when he saw _her _walk out of the entrance with her back turned to him.

Po gulped nervously, Tigress started to walk in the direction of the bamboo forest, Po decided to follow her.

xxxxx

Tigress was worried about going back up to the palace, she knew what she had said to Shifu was wrong and she was afraid to face him, it was mostly out of guilt after all it had been the angriest she had ever gotten with Shifu and the subject of her anger wasn't even Shifu's fault.

So she decided to go into the forest to get some alone time, it may have seemed cowardly but she needed time before confronting her master and apologizing to him.

A shadow passed over Tigress, she turned to face it's source. Po was standing in front of her with an unreadable expression.

Tigress gasped and turned as white as a sheet , her heart also stopped momentarily in shock.

"Hi Tigress" said Po with a sad smile on his face, he took in Tigress's appearance, she looked awful, she had bags under her eyes, her fur clearly hadn't been taken care of as it was messy and raised up in places, to Po however she still looked beautiful.

Po also noticed that her eyes looked bloodshot and tired. _"She's clearly been crying a lot, this is all my fault"_ Po thought guiltily.

Tigress just stood and blinked for a few seconds, _"Oh god what's happening to me, I'm seeing him now. I can't take this"_, Tigress was in such a shock that she didn't notice Po's scent.

Po was concerned, Tigress hadn't said anything she just stared at him in disbelief, he cautiously reached out to her "Tigre-".

The tiger master cut him off sharply "You're not real" she murmured coldly. "I thought it was getting easier to cope", she unsheathed her claws "But it must be getting worse because now I'm imagining you".

Po let his paw hang in mid air, his breath caught in his throat and his heart stopped. "I-I am real" he choked on the verge of tears.

Tigress suddenly kicked him viciously, Po hit the ground hard. Tigress bounded over to him and got right in his face.

"YOU'RE NOT REAL!" she screamed, "THE REAL PO WOULD NEVER ABANDON ME!"

Po looked away shamefully, he hadn't ever dreamed of what the extent of the damage he had done would be until now.

He got back up shakily, Tigress's kick had badly winded him. The tiger master leaped back to make space between her and her "prey".

"Tigress I'm sorry that I left you but that was the only way I could save you and the Valley!" Po admonished.

Tigress snarled at him, "I finally found love and you denied me it, I-I _hate _you, j-just leave me alone", throughout the sentence Tigress had been getting more and more upset, she rushed at Po again to continue her assault.

Po realized he was going to have to convince her that he was genuine. He knew he was going to get hurt here so he prepared himself for pain.

Tigress threw a swift punch which Po barely dodged, even in the intensity of the confrontation Po had to admit he was impressed with how much Tigress had improved her form.

Po grabbed Tigress's second punch, twisted it behind her back and pinned her up against a nearby rock.

"Listen to me Tigress! If there was any other way then I would of done that instead, please stop and just listen to me" he pleaded.

Tigress ignored him and using all the strength in her legs kicked off of the boulder, the force of the kick pushed Po onto the ground. Because he was still holding onto Tigress she ended up on top with her back still to him and with Po still grasping her arm.

She broke free of his grip, growled in his face and started to whale on him.

Po held his arms in front of his face to protect himself, he knew plenty of ways to get out of this situation, unfortunately they all required him to hurt his opponent and he figured he had already hurt Tigress enough.

Tigress without even realizing it started to cry, Po felt a droplet hit him in the face.

"Tigress you're crying" he said simply.

She stopped for a second and put a paw to her face, Po had never seen her cry before and he was shocked by her raw expression of emotion.

Po saw an opening and took it, Po knew he couldn't reason with her so he just did what his heart told him to do. He immediately embraced her in a bear hug, squeezing her to the point where she could not move a muscle, Po remembered that this was exactly what he had done the day they confessed their love to each other.

Tigress gasped and started to violently struggle against him, she kneed him in the stomach and tried to headbutt him. Po knew she wouldn't get out of his hold the panda was just too strong so he just took her abuse.

"Let go of me _panda_" she hissed, while Po showed nothing on the outside on the inside she was actually scaring The Dragon Warrior quite a bit, Po had never seen her so...emotional.

Po knew what he had to do, he quickly kissed Tigress with all of the love and feeling that he could muster.

Tigress stopped her struggling and melted into it, _"I don't care if it is Po or not I...I need this"_.

Po had missed her so much and he tried to communicate it through their lip lock, unfortunately as living beings they started to desperately need air. Tigress and Po reluctantly pulled out of the kiss and breathed deeply while staring into each other's eyes.

"Now do you believe me?" Po said softly, Tigress refused to give any indication that she had heard him, she just looked at Po with clouded vision, she was clearly affected by Po's kiss.

Po decided to talk to her "I've spent two years trying to get back to the Valley...back to _you _Tigress, you're everything to me and you'll never know how much I missed you while I was stuck in that place, but I want you to know just how much I love you and the thought of seeing you again was the only thing keeping me sane".

Po started to cry "Please come back to me, I'm sorry for all the pain I put you through".

Tigress gasped at the sight of the panda crying, she felt his tears hitting her chest.

Tigress finally also noticed his scent, _"He's real! By the gods my panda is back"_.

"Put me down Po" Tigress said softly.

Po complied and set her softly on the ground, he looked at her with tear stained eyes and the slim hope that he had gotten through to her.

She suddenly ran at Po with full speed and tackled him to the ground. She looked straight into his jade eyes and before he could say anything she pressed her lips to his in a long and passionate kiss.

Tigress pulled away and started to sob loudly into his shoulder, Po just held her.

"Are you OK Tigr-"

Tigress cut him off, "Po, I am fine...these are tears of happiness".

Po just smiled, they stayed like that for a while.

Tigress finally got up and picked Po up by the paw.

Tigress saw bruises starting to form on his forearms and chest, Tigress looked guiltily at him, "Po...I'm sorry fo-".

Po put a finger to her lips "It doesn't matter, for what it's worth I'm sorry for breaking your heart. While I spent two years trying to get back here to you, you spent three weeks mourning for me so I understand...I would've done the same thing if it had been you".

Tigress smiled at his understanding, "So do you want to find the others? I'm sure that they'll want to see that you've returned...although I don't think that they will attack you in a manner akin to the way I just did".

Po nodded "No I think we should" Po started to snicker childishly "Although I don't think Monkey will try and make out with me".

Tigress blushed but couldn't resist laughing heartily , all of her grief and sorrow was expelled through those laughs and she could feel her happiness returning to her, "Po you still haven't changed".

Po shook his head "I wouldn't dream of it".

He grasped her paw and held it tightly, everything was going to be alright now.


	12. Chapter 11

**The Way Back**

**Chapter 11- How Far We've Come**

**I'm sorry for taking so long, I just decided to take a break.**

"Are you ready Po?" said Tigress, they were standing outside of Dragon Warrior Noodles & Tofu (Mr Ping hadn't changed the name so he could honour his son's legacy).

Po nodded, he had to admit he was both excited and nervous. Po honestly didn't know if Mr Ping could handle such a shock.

Tigress gripped his paw tightly shaking him out of his thoughts, "Are you sure that you want me to come in with you Po? He is after all your father".

Po bit his lip "Yeah Tigress, I do want you there...for support in case things turn physical" Po joked.

His attempt at covering his anxiety wasn't lost on the tiger master. Tigress sensed his apprehension, she cupped his face in her paw "Don't be nervous Po, you know Mr Ping will be fine...at least he won't have a reaction like mine".

Po chuckled nervously "Oh I don't know you haven't seen him when he's angry, he can get pretty violent", Po shuddered when he recalled Mr Ping's reaction to a customer insulting his 'Secret Ingredient Soup'.

Tigress smiled "I think I have an idea" she remembered him throwing that meat cleaver at her yesterday, she looked over and saw the mark on the entrance where it had impacted.

Po took a deep breath and he walked inside closely followed by Tigress.

He opened the door hesitantly and crept inside, it was silent. "He must still be asleep" Po whispered almost hopefully.

Tigress rubbed his shoulder "Do you want me to get him?".

Po nodded "Yeah it might scare him if he woke up and saw my face".

Tigress padded upstairs softly and knocked on his door...no response, she slowly opened the door and went to wake him up.

While she did that Po looked around the kitchen, nothing much had changed but Po noticed a thin layer of dust coating everything. _"Hmmm Dad must not be looking after the place, I knew he would be cut up but to neglect the restaurant means I came at the right time"_.

xxxxx

Tigress saw Mr Ping's sleeping form in the middle of his bed, he was snoring softly and he was wearing a sad expression on his face, it was obvious that he was dreaming about his son.

_"It's okay Mr Ping, soon we'll both be able to sleep well again"_, Tigress carefully walked over to him and shook him softly to wake him up.

"Mr Ping...Mr Ping wake up" she said quietly.

The goose began to stir, he opened his eyes slowly. "Tigress...what is it?" he asked groggily.

Tigress smiled warmly at him "Mr Ping I've met someone who's missed you very much", Mr Ping looked at her oddly "It's not Shifu is it, because I'm not going to play any more Majong with him he is such a sore loser".

Tigress looked oddly at him for a second before shaking her head, "No it isn't Shifu, just come downstairs and see for yourself...just prepare yourself though" while she wouldn't say it Tigress also didn't know if Mr Ping would be able to handle the shock of seeing Po.

Mr Ping sat up slowly, Tigress excused herself and went back downstairs to Po who was currently twiddling his thumbs nervously while standing rigidly in the corner.

When he saw Tigress he relaxed a bit, "He's just coming down now Po, are you ready?" Tigress took her place next to Po.

Po gulped "As ready as I'll ever be I guess", Tigress took his paw into her own"Remember Po whatever happens I'll always be here for you so don't be afraid" she cooed softly.

Po nodded silently, it was a simple gesture but she knew how much her words had meant to him.

After a minute of silence they heard Mr Ping's door creak open, he started to make his way slowly down the stairs. Tigress felt Po's paw start to shake and grip her's tightly, if she hadn't trained with the ironwood trees it might of hurt her.

Mr Ping's face arrived at the bottom of the staircase, he looked around the room until his eyes fell upon Tigress who nodded at him, Mr Ping's eyes saw that she was holding onto something large and black.

He followed it until he saw what it was connected to, a large familiar looking panda was staring straight at him.

The goose gasped in disbelief, "P-Po?" he murmured hopefully.

The panda suddenly let go of Tigress's paw and rushed over to embrace his father, Tigress watched the scene with a warm smile on her face.

"Dad it's me...I'm home" Po said on the verge of happy tears, Mr Ping didn't say anything, "Dad?" Po asked in a concerned voice.

He pulled away to reveal that Mr Ping was lifeless, he hurriedly put him on the ground.

Tigress saw something was wrong and hurried over to assist, "Dad! Dad speak to me" Po said frantically, he couldn't have come so far just to lose his dad.

Tigress examined Mr Ping methodically, she found a pulse...a normal one at that.

Tigress chuckled, Po turned on her worriedly "What is it? What's wrong with him? Why are you laughing?".

She placed a paw on his shoulder, "Calm down Po, he's just fainted, obviously from the shock of seeing you...after all he did bury you only a couple of days ago".

Po sighed "Yeah I guess, so what should we do?".

Tigress looked the goose over again "He'll wake up in a minute or two, let's get him upstairs and put him in his bed".

Po nodded and picked Mr Ping up, he quickly took him upstairs closely followed by Tigress, Po set him down gently on the bed almost as if he were handling glass, he then sat down on the floor next to the bed patiently waiting for Mr Ping to regain consciousness.

Tigress sat on the opposite side of the bed, _"Well that could've gone better...I knew he would have a huge reaction but I didn't expect him to faint, this is going to be the second time he wakes up in less than forty five seconds"_ she reflected.

They waited in silence for a minute and a half, eventually Mr Ping started to stir. Po was immediately at his side just in case he had a more violent reaction.

"Dad?" Po said softly "Are you okay?", Mr Ping's eyes opened slowly. "Po? Is it really you?".

Po smiled uncontrollably "Yes Dad it is", Mr Ping suddenly started to cry wildly.

Po immediately tried to comfort his father, "Dad whats wrong?".

Mr Ping slapped Po in the face with his wing, Tigress gasped and sat up to help, however she was stopped by Po who held his hand up to her.

Po looked away from Mr Ping shamefully, "I'm sorry Dad but I ha-" Mr Ping hit him again.

"Do you know what you put me and that lovely young lady through" Mr Ping seethed, when he referred to Tigress he gestured at her with his wing.

Po grimaced while rubbing his cheek thoughtfully "Well considering that my face now hurts along with what Tigress did earlier...I'm gonna say yes".

Mr Ping's anger faded at the realization that his wish for the return of Po had actually come true.

Mr Ping hugged his son, "It's good to have you back son...just don't do it again".

Po hugged him back "I'm sorry Dad, I'll try not to let it happen again".

Tigress watched the scene happily, she was glad that Mr Ping and her had finally gotten their panda back. _"Okay now we just need to find the others and Shifu then we can try to get back to normal"_.

Mr Ping led the two back down into the kitchen "Do you want me to make the both of you some noodles to celebrate?".

Po shook his head "No thanks Dad I need to find the rest of the five first and then I'll come back down".

Him and Tigress went to leave, "Wait Tigress!" yelled Mr Ping.

She turned around carefully, she was expecting another meat cleaver...she was glad when none flew at her.

The goose walked slowly over to her "Can I have a word with you privately?" he asked.

Tigress nodded "Sure", she looked at Po "Start making your way up I'll be just a second".

Po nodded to show his acknowledgement, waved goodbye to Mr Ping and left to start the dreaded walk up the Thousand Steps.

Tigress closed the door behind her, Mr Ping looked into her eyes. "Thank you Tigress" he said simply.

She was naturally confused "What for Mr Ping? You helped me remember?", he nodded. "Yes I did help you but you also helped me. By allowing me to help someone move on it also let me try and move past my own grief".

Tigress smiled and knelt down to hug the old goose, Mr Ping was taken by surprise at her rare show of affection. He patted her on the back gently.

She then suddenly left without a word, she didn't need to say anything, Mr Ping had gathered all of her thoughts through her physical attempt at emotion.

Tigress quickly ran to catch up to Po, when she neared the steps she noticed that he was sitting at the bottom clearly waiting for her.

He smiled when he noticed her, "So what did my Dad want?" it had never seen Tigress and Mr Ping talk to each other so the topic of their conversation was naturally peaking Po's childish curiosity.

Tigress smirked "Nothing really", she brushed past Po and started to walk to the palace. She would tell Po eventually but she looked forward to watching Po's desperate attempts to get the truth out of her.

Po scrambled to keep pace with her, "Wow Tigress you're really being mean, c'mon slow down a bit".

She stuck her tongue out at him, Po blinked in surprise at her playfulness . "You've got a lot of training to catch up on panda, so you might as well make a start with these steps" she teased.

Tigress dashed off on all fours, she obviously wanted Po to chase her. Po chuckled and shook his head in bemusement.

"COME BACK HERE TIGRESS!" He yelled after her.

xxxxx

Po had eventually got to the top, when he got there he was surprised to find Tigress laid on the floor panting heavily. He wasn't to know that she rarely actually walked up the entire flight of stairs, she mostly just leaped up them which explained why she was not used to the sudden exhaustion.

Po collapsed next to her "What's wrong _kitty _out of breath", Tigress suddenly sat up and glared at him.

"_What _did you just call me?" she hissed, Po gulped nervously and backed up against the palace wall.

"N-nothing _Tigress _honestly _Tigress_" he stammered, Po closed his eyes and waited for the pain...which never came. He felt two soft arms wrap around his neck and pull him into a rough kiss.

Tigress pulled away and smirked mischievously at him, "You're lucky I missed you so much otherwise you'd be in a world of pain". Po giggled nervously "So I'm off the hook".

Tigress put her mouth next to his ear "I wouldn't bet on it panda" her breath in his ear made him shudder in delight. "You _will _pay for that comment later and trust me when I say it will _not _be subtle" she breathed softly.

She looked into his eyes devilishly, Po gazed back with love filled eyes. He had never seen her so playful or mischievous...and he was loving every second of it.

Po softly pushed her away "Focus Tigress, remember why we came up here".

She nodded glumly and led him to the training hall, Po took her paw and walked next to her.

As they approached the hall they couldn't hear any sounds coming from the inside. This made Po instantly suspicious and worried he looked at Tigress with a concerned expression and ran over to the entrance to let himself in.

The hall was completely empty, Tigress frowned _"Where is everyone? They usually trian at this hour"_.

Po dashed away to check the barracks, Tigress followed him.

Po entered the barracks and started to frantically check everyone's rooms, they were all empty.

Tigress caught up to him, she put a paw on his shoulder "Calm down Po" she said soothingly.

He glanced at her and nodded appreciatively.

"Let's go into the kitchen and get something to eat, they might have gone on a mission".

Po took a deep breath and made his way into the kitchen.

"SURPRISE!", Po jumped back in fright and landed awkwardly on Tigress.

The five and Shifu were standing in the kitchen, they had clearly been waiting there for them.

Po got up off of Tigress and helped her up, "WELCOME BACK PO!" the five yelled.

The Dragon Warrior was suddenly floored again by the masters all trying to jug him at once.

Shifu chuckled at the sight of five fully grown adults acting like children and Tigress standing in shock at the side.

After a while everyone had gotten a hold of their selves.

Everyone took a seat at the table, Tigress was sat next to Po clutching onto his paw.

Mantis asked the question that was on everyone's lips, "So Po...how'd you do it?".

Po chuckled at his much missed blunt approach, he took a deep breath and began to tell everyone of his exploits of the past two years.

When he talked about the Wu-Ban Nector Shifu took note of it, _"Hmmm that's strange I've never heard of that before, I wonder if it's an object exclusive to that world...but I don't understand why if it existed why did The Dragon Warrior use a Sacred Blood Stone instead?_

When Po had finished a silence fell over the room, everyone was trying to let that information sink in.

Shifu broke the awkward silence "It is good to have you back Po".

Po was shocked at his master's show of affection.

"Wow I didn't realize that I had such an affect on you guys, first Shifu is actually nice to me, my Dad stopped looking after the shop and Tigress wants t-". Tigress swiftly cut him off by squeezing his paw painfully tightly and glaring at him.

Mantis and Monkey picked up on what he was going to say, they both stealthily sidled up to Tigress. "Is that true Master Tigress?" said Monkey coyly, "Would we have heard the little pitter patter of pangers?" said Mantis most unwisely.

If looks could kill.

Viper and Crane smirked and rolled their eyes, Shifu sighed irritably although he was secretly pleased that they were all united once more.

Po started to chuckle in happiness, he turned to Crane when he remembered something. "Say Crane" he said, "Yeah Po?".

"Nice work with Viper, I was saying for years that you two should hook up".

Crane shook his head and laughed at his friends buffoonery "No you haven't Po" he admonished.

"...But if I had then you might of done it sooner".

The evening was full of friendship and love.

xxxxx

Everyone was asleep now but Tigress and Po didn't want to be separated, they had been apart too long.

They were sitting next to each other in the Hall of Heroes gazing into the Moon Pool, Po's box was positioned next to him. He wanted to show Tigress something.

"Hey Tigress" he said whilst looking into the pool, "Yes Po" she replied while also continuing to look at his reflection.

"You know that I thought about you a lot when I was gone right?" he put his hand on her back.

She purred at his touch "I'd like to think you did", she smirked at him.

"W-well I'd like t-to show you how much" he said nervously. Tigress gasped _"No he can't really want to? Not right now! I honestly thought he'd never ask"_.

She sighed when she saw him reach for the box, she was slightly relieved that her expectations weren't met.

Po pushed the box in front of her and opened it, Tigress peeked inside and gasped. Inside were hundreds of letters and notes addressed to her.

Tigress's heart melted at the sight of them, she picked one up at random and read it aloud.

_Dear Tigress_

_I know that you won't ever get this letter, but by writing it I feel like I'm close to you. I hope you can forgive me for breaking your heart by sacrificing myself, maybe that's what this place is, maybe it's the personal hell that I've been allotted for hurting you, or maybe it's a dream that I can't wake up from, or maybe I've just taken my evil counterparts place here. All I know is that it's a strange place, there's so much fear and uncertainty and people are scared of me, it's quite understandable though, I caused so much pain and suffering here._

_I've met the Viper, Monkey and Mantis of this world and I've told them of Crane's sacrifice, I'm going to make things right between us all and make this place peaceful again while I find a way back._

_I don't know how to get back to you, but no matter what, no matter how long it takes me , I promise you, I __will__ find a way, we'll be together soon Tigress._

_Don't ever give up hope, I know I won't._

_All of my love now and forever, Po_

Po blushed in embarrassment, "They're not that great b-but it's the thought that co-". Tigress cut him off with a soft kiss, Po could feel his cheeks getting wet, but he wasn't crying...Tigress was.

She pulled away and looked deeply in his eyes "They're perfect" she said simply.

They stayed that way for the rest of the night, Tigress reading what Po had written and rewarding him for the more...romantic ones.

It was perfect.

**Okay Author's note.**

**I want to thank pandafan91 with help for the last three chapters, he basically co-wrote chapter 10 with me and was a **_**huge **_**help with chapter 9. If nobody has checked his stuff out yet you should do...because it's awesome, he is defiantly the best current writer on the site.**

**Now the big one. Do any of you want a sequel to this? I've left it open to a sequel but if nobody wants one I've given the story enough of a conclusion for it not to need one.**

**I won't say what the sequel would be about just in case nobody wants it, because then I could make it it's own thing.**

**Thanks for following me all the way through since the very first chapter of A Better World? It really means a lot.**


	13. Authors Note

**Author's Note**

**Okay so it seems that people do want a sequel, I will oblige. **

**It will be called Rage of the Ifrit. OK just so I know, what do people want to see in this next story? I won't use any of these ideas I just want to know what people expect...so I can completely subvert those expectation, no I'm kidding it's just out of curiosity.  
**


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